Covid-19 & Crisis Communication: Analysing Key Government of Ghana Communication Strategies as Deployed by the Ministry of Information

Abstract

Government communication across the world introduced vital steps and procedures for citizens to guard themselves against the novel Covid-19 pandemic. The Ghana government communication was based on a set of strategies which focused on the following directives: involving the community in the efforts to contain the pandemic; raising awareness about the government efforts; enhancing social initiatives and responsibility; informing and guiding people about the economic, educational, and social repercussions and solutions and their assurances that the government is assuming its responsibility of protecting everyone. Topical of these strategies were the Press Briefings, Presidential address, Back To School Campaign, #SpreadCalmNotFear campaign and Social media and website updates. The aim of this study was to analyse these strategic communications implemented by government with the goal getting citizens compliance and attitudinal change as that was central to prevention and mitigation of the spread of the pandemic. The objectives of the research sought to identify the overall communication strategy employed by Government of Ghana to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, assess the key communication approaches as deployed by the Ministry of Information, determine the perceptive effectiveness of these communication strategies, and assess the challenges in these crisis communications strategies and make recommendations. The study revealed that the key communication approaches of the Ministry of Information was stakeholder engagement and mass media campaigns. An online survey conducted by Star Ghana Foundation clearly revealed that, the strategies choked over 80% their communication objectives and also the ultimate outcome of the communication strategy was to effect behavioural change. It was clear that citizenry gradually adjusted to the new norm albeit some compliance challenges. However, major feedback to the Ministry was the fact that many Ghanaians were still not complying in full with restrictions and the safety protocols that were instituted despite the massive campaign activities. In response, the Ministry launched Below-the-line advertising campaigns to intensify awareness creation to get the needed cooperation. The Ghanaian government depended on accurate, confident, transparent, and trusted communication which are effective values during risks and emergencies. Also, it was revealed that political figures used some platforms for political jabs instead of relay information. Based on these findings, government needs to strengthen real-time surveillance and monitoring and greatly expand testing and vaccination capacity. Support should be provided to the most vulnerable populations to better control the spread of coronavirus. The government should also focus on health system strengthening and build its capacity for dealing with multiple crises and outbreaks to better respond to public health emergencies. Additionally, government should also desist from politicizing every plan they implement. It breaches trust and distracts attention from problem solving.